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Susa (2)
Unless otherwise indicated, pictures on this page © Marco Prins and Jona Lendering. Photos can be downloaded and used for non-commercial purposes, but you have to acknowledge Livius.
Adjacent to the second court are two smaller rooms without entrance. The only access can have been from above. This suggests that these rooms were treasuries. When Alexander the Great captured Susa in December 330 BCE, he found some 40,000 talents of precious metal.
The northern wall of the third court, which was larger than two first courts. The strange round holes may have been used for flagpoles and this court may have been used for military exercises.
Persian palace guard, found at Susa. Now in the Louvre, Paris. A relief of one of the guards, now in the Louvre in Paris.
The Apadana (Throne hall) at Susa. Photo Marco Prins. From the second and third courts, it was possible to reach the Apadana or audience hall. Here, the great king received his visitors, and there are many stories that deal with this room (example). There were 36 large columns and the hall measured 109 x 109 meters. An inscription, D2Sa, records reconstruction works from the age of Artaxerxes I Makrocheir and Darius II Nothus.
A reconstruction of the Apadana.
The Apadana was badly damaged during the First Gulf War (1980-1988). Yet, this column base still suggests something of the original majesty of the building...
... and so does this capital.
Fortunately (when happen to live in France) or unfortunately (for the rest of humankind), one has to travel to Paris, to the Louvre, to see an intact capital. This picture was made in the French museum.  
Statue of Darius, once erected in Egypt, but later brought to Susa. Archaeological Museum of Tehran (Iran). Photo Marco Prins. The citadel of Louvre also has an ancient gate, which was excavated in the 1970's. One of the statues once standing over there has been brought to the Archaeological Museum of Tehran. It is unique, because free-standing statues are rare in Achaemenid art. The statue, which was once covered with paint, is described here.
Susa is mentioned in the Bible in the Book of Esther, and it is possible to walk through the remains of the ancient palace and see the locations of this Biblical story. Esther is said to be buried in modern Hamadan. Yet, there is a Biblical prophet buried in Susa: this conical building belongs to the mausoleum of Daniel.
This is the tomb of the prophet. We visited the sacred place in the week before the festival of mourning that is called Ashura. The black cloth that covers the tomb commemorates the martyrdom of Emam Hussein. To be honest, I found this more impressive than the palace of Darius. For Achaemenid remains, one should visit Persepolis.
The best-known archaeological find from Susa is without any doubt the diorite stele with the Laws of the Babylonian king Hammurabi (1792-1750?), which was taken away when the Elamites looted Babylon. The capital shows how Hammurabi prays to Šamaš, the sun god. The significance of the regulations it is still unclear. In a society that was overwhelmingly illiterate, people would never know their rights if they depended upon a written text, and it is possible that the stele was in fact only meant to show to the eternal gods that the king was a just man, or tried to be. The stele is now on the Louvre, Paris.  
to part three
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